


strings and threads

by myloveiamthespeedofsound



Series: the ties that bind [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 21:49:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13257300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myloveiamthespeedofsound/pseuds/myloveiamthespeedofsound
Summary: But now there was a new one. Different. Inky black with flecks that glistened and gleaned. The stars they had tried to count as children. The stars they had poured over books of. The stars that exploded somewhere in Ignis' chest with every glance. With every brush of hands. Or the way Noctis would rest his head upon his shoulder on the couch.A delicate thread that Ignis knew he needed to let go of. To nip before it could take hold more. Before it could wind upon itself and become stronger… become more and permeate into the other strings that tied them so close together. A precious thing that strung between them. New and tender. And oh so wrong.





	strings and threads

**Author's Note:**

> A small interlude filling in how Ignis and Noctis came together. Part of the larger [take it on faith](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13004946/chapters/29738247) story but that doesn't need to be read to have this make sense.

 

 

Ignis knew, of course, that by the very nature of their relationship, by the bond that ran through them and the fact Noctis was an alpha that one day the emotions that radiated off his prince would stumble down a certain path. After all, Noctis was a boy. A boy who would be a teenager and an alpha on top of all of that. And at barely that himself - a teenager - Ignis had resigned himself to that fate of the elusive  _ one day _ .  Resigned and prepared, should his charge have any questions that were not adequately answered in school. 

Of course, as the years passed, the prepared part remained more  _ theoretical  _ than  _ practical. _ And when that elusive  _ one day _ did in fact make itself known Ignis realized that nothing could have ever prepared him. 

Ever. 

Noctis was fifteen. The trappings of childhood falling to the wayside and the beginnings of a man started to emerge in the face of a boy. And just like that it was as though a switch had been flipped overnight. Gone was the sweet child who had plotted grand escapes to look at the stars and in its place was a full blown teenager. Sullen - even for Noctis which was saying a lot - and prone to snap. Tightly wound in ways Ignis hadn't even realized were possible. Suddenly their entire dynamic had been turned on its head and Ignis struggled to keep control of the constant shifts in his alpha's moods.

And then there was…  _ that _ .

Ignis could remember vividly the first time it happened. That rush of hormones that flooded Noctis and by extension himself.  And gods it couldn't have happened at a worse time.  The middle of the gym in a session with Gladio, a number of Glaives finishing up their own sessions.  Not that Ignis could  _ blame _ Noctis for the sudden rush of  _ want _ .  What with the very attractive company being those inclined to remain in various states of near undress while working out.  It had been hard to determine if it had been  _ someone _ in particular that had triggered it, or just more  _ everyone _ .     
  
Weeks passed and Ignis started to get - not  _ used _ to it, but more adept at handling it.  Those random rushes of desire and emotion.  So different than the reserved ways his own would hit him.  But then Noctis always was like that, underneath everything - just a mess of emotion waiting for the day it would all explode.  How often Ignis had wanted to scream at the people who wrote Noctis off as detached that they just weren't  _ looking  _ hard enough.  That they didn't take the time to find and cultivate the well of emotion that lay under the surface.  And how angry it made him to realize that most simply didn't  _ care _ to do so.  That they put the prince before the person and so it didn't matter to them.     
  
Ignis found a balance, shifted and rearranged and found his footing again.  Only to have it all shot to hell as Noctis walked up to the car one day after school with a blond boy in his shadow and a very decisive:  _ this is my friend, Prompto, I told him we'd give him a ride home. _  And that was that.  Suddenly where there had been one now there was two.  Two unruly boys in the backseat, two bags to trip over in the foyer of Noct's apartment, two teenage boys to feed, two sets of uniforms to wash and press despite Prompto's insistence that Ignis didn't have to do that for him.   
  
And Ignis stood back as he watched the scene play out.  The sudden wave of happiness at having a friend - one that had  _ chosen _ to be that.  The subtle shifts as the boys grew closer and anxiousness and nervousness settled in.  As those first sparks of a  _ crush _ rippled beneath the surface.  As friendship shifted into something different and touches lingered, glances lingered, faces went red and Ignis could  _ see _ it happening before it even did.     
  
"I think something might be happening between his Highness and Prompto," Ignis had said one afternoon at lunch with Gladio.

Gladio had merely shrugged.  "The blond kid?  Yeah I could see it.  He's cute…" a pause.  "Could be worse, could be some girl omega and you'd have to be worried about him knocking her up."   
  
Ignis hummed at that.  Prompto was an omega but it had been generations since male omegas conceived.  He supposed there was a small measure of comfort in that.  Though none to be found in the idea that whatever was happening between Noctis and Prompto had progressed  _ that _ far.   
  
"They're kids, Iggy - they'll make out or screw around for a bit and get it out of their system and move on," Gladio pointed out.  "Just like we did."

Ignis smirked at that.  "I suppose you have a point there."   
  
But still, Ignis watched carefully.  Opened himself to the shifts in his alpha's moods and emotions.  Worried over every little change and prayed that the two boys would be able to come around the other side with a friendship still intact.  After all, it was a friendship Noctis truly needed.  Weeks went by and the tide changed.  No longer did Noctis  _ radiate _ want when Prompto came around.  No longer did the omega either.  But still Prompto remained.  A constant in the aftermath and for that Ignis was grateful.     
  
And for a while things returned to normal.  For an alpha Noctis had become a little… disinterested once the initial wave of hormones had passed.  Enough to have Ignis giving it more than a passing thought but not so much that he was  _ worried _ .  Ignis knew that Noctis most likely had reservations.  He was a prince, he held a title.  Relationships were a finicky thing when one had what was viewed as more power than the other person.  And it was no secret that Noctis' mating would be arranged.  Hand selected for political purposes instead of personal.     
  
Of course it seemed that just as quickly as Ignis had adjusted to a new normal - normal went and changed.  Again.   
  
Noctis was seventeen.  Ignis would be a liar to say that the prince hadn't grown into a very attractive young man.  He'd be a liar to say his own thoughts hadn't drifted down paths he knew they absolutely  _ should not go _ .  He'd be a liar to say he didn't want in ways he absolutely  _ should not want _ .     
  
He'd be a liar to say it didn't cause a small flicker of  _ something _ when Noctis looked at him and he could feel the  _ want _ radiate off his alpha.  His prince.  His charge.  His _ everything _ .

But Ignis knew he couldn't act on it.  Nor could he find it in himself to even bring it up.  Those sparks that ignited and flickered in the air between them.  Those bursts of desire whenever Noctis would glance over at him, the ones that mirrored his own as he met those blue eyes.   


The bond had always come to Ignis as strings when he visualized it. As red as the blood they had shared all those years ago. Or as dark as the night sky they had snuck out to observe. Endless strings that extended from Noctis to himself. Twisting and wrapping together in the space between them.  Binding them to one another in a way no one else would ever have. 

But now there was a new one. Different. Inky black with flecks that glistened and gleaned. The stars they had tried to count as children. The stars they had poured over books of. The stars that exploded somewhere in Ignis' chest with every glance. With every brush of hands. Or the way Noctis would rest his head upon his shoulder on the couch. 

A delicate thread that Ignis knew he needed to let go of. To nip before it could take hold more. Before it could wind upon itself and become stronger… become  _ more  _ and permeate into the other strings that tied them so close together _.  _ A precious thing that strung between them. New and tender. And oh so  _ wrong _ . 

So he ignored it. Pretended like it wasn't there. Acted like nothing had changed and tried to convince himself that was the truth. 

Which worked until a few months before Noctis' eighteenth birthday. An evening like most others. Noctis worked on his school work, Ignis made dinner and cleaned up the apartment. Noctis insisted on some gods awful show that he had been making his way through and despite his aversion to the series Ignis found himself on the couch as well - the evening quickly dissipating into night. 

Noct's head was a pleasant weight against his shoulder and Ignis hated to disturb the prince - but it was late and they both had things to be up for in the morning.  So Ignis gently started to move, shaking Noctis awake.  "Highness," Ignis started as Noctis blinked awake and looked up at him.  "I should be going."   
  
Noctis shifted, sat up a bit straighter and rubbed the heel of his hands against his eyes before he flopped back against Ignis. "Or you could stay," he said quietly, his voice rough with the sleep he had fallen into.   
  
Ignis stiffened at the boldness of the request.  "Noctis - it's late," he persisted as he gently pried Noctis from him once more.   
  
Noctis moved, slipped a leg over Ignis and shifted until he sat in his adviser's lap, a knee at either side.  "Stay," he tired again, the word more commanding this time as he nuzzled his face into the crook of Ignis' neck.  Over the scar that still remained, a silvery mark from where Noctis' teeth had laid claim all those years ago.     
  
Ignis's breath caught somewhere in his throat and it was all he could to do remain still.  To not let his hands moved to Noctis' hips and settle there.  To not  _ give in. _   
  
"Noctis…" Ignis got out.  Not exactly as reprimindal as he had hoped but… he tried.

"Ignis," Noctis parroted back as he lifted his head to look at Ignis.  His pupils were wide, a flush across his cheeks and despite the cocky confidence he tried so hard to exude Ignis could see the apprehension underneath.   


"We can't," he stated.  Fact.  Want did not come into this.  Only what was and wasn't proper and it sure as hells wasn't proper for him to give into his  _ seventeen year old _ charge who had picked this particular moment to act on lingering desires.

"Why?" Noctis insisted and Ignis wasn't sure if the movement was purposeful or just by chance as he rolled his hips forward as he leaned back down to nuzzle back into Ignis' neck.  "Because I'm the prince?" Noctis started and Ignis hissed a breath as he felt that mouth dust against the skin of his neck.  And gods it was hard to think when  _ that _ was occuring.  "Because you're my adviser?… because it's not proper?…" Noctis continued, soft little kisses being pressed against Ignis' skin between each point as his hands moved to rest against Ignis' chest.

Ignis reached for those hands and pulled them back, Noctis lifted his head to look down at him.  "Because you're  _ seventeen _ ," Ignis said.  Which he had meant as a supplement to the other valid points. 

Noctis stared down at him hard and Ignis could see the way his thoughts ran and then clicked into a place.  A place Ignis knew he should right then and there discredit.  But he didn't.  Noctis pulled himself off of Ignis' lap and moved down the hall to his room and Ignis took that as his cue to leave the apartment.   


They didn't talk about that night.  A lapse of judgement that remained untouched and for that Ignis was grateful.  Even if he knew it was most likely irresponsible to not discuss it.  And if it hadn't been for the nights he'd woken in a cold sweat and harder than he'd been in ages to the ghost of lips against his neck he might have even been able to forget it.  If it hadn't been for that damn thread that grew and mocked him.  If it hadn't been for the way he found his thoughts going down all those paths he knew they shouldn't more and more.     


If it hadn't been for the fact that want and desire were only a small part of the bigger whole.  The bigger problem.   


If not for the fact he knew he was hopelessly in love.     


Noctis' eighteenth birthday came.  An event he knew the young prince had dreaded if only because of the attention that surrounded it.  A prince now of age, it was a big deal.  A state dinner, a ball.  The kind of formal events that Ignis knew Noctis loathed but had become better at faking his tolerance of.  There were even moments where the prince looked like he could actually be  _ enjoying _ himself.  Ignis was proud.

The day's festivities eventually dwindled and Ignis drove Noctis home.  The silence almost unnerving after the constant chatter and hum of the day.   


As usual Ignis accompanied Noctis into the building and up to his apartment.  An act he had done countless times to this point.  He was not prepared however for Noctis to turn on him the moment the door was close, to suddenly have the weight of the other pressed up against him and forcing him back against the closed door.  To have a leg jam shamelessly between his own as Noctis all but collided their mouths together.  Too reckless and forceful and their teeth clattered together as Noctis pressed in even more.     
  
Ignis gripped Noctis' arms and pushed him back a little.  "Noctis," he started.

"I'm eighteen," was the interjected reply.  A look on his face as though he  _ dared _ Ignis to deny him this now.  As though that one comment had been the  _ only _ reason Ignis had denied him before.

But deny Ignis knew he had to attempt to do.  He sidestepped around Noctis and put some much needed space between them.  "You're eighteen," he conceded.  "And still a prince and I am still your adviser and bonded omega.  There are lines, Noctis - lines that we are not meant to cross."   
  
Noctis followed after him, a defiant gleam in his eyes and Ignis knew he would not get off so easy this time. "And what?  What I  _ want _ doesn't matter?  What  _ you  _ want doesn't matter?" he argued.  Noctis stood in front of Ignis.  "I know you want me, Iggy," he continued, his voice softer after the initial outburst.  "I've known for a while…"   
  
Of course he had Ignis realized.  Their bond was stronger.  Stronger than most.  They had been so young when they entered into it and it had had years to cultivate.  It wasn't just Ignis who could read Noctis, it went both ways.  He couldn't hide.  Not from this.

Noctis stepped in closer, hesitated and then moved a hand slowly to rest on Ignis' hip.  Ignis watched as he did and then reached his own hand across the now small space between them to cup the side of Noctis' face.  Noctis.  How was it that the entirety of his world could be wrapped up in just one person.  "Highness…" he breathed out and slid his hand behind Noctis' neck.   
  
There would be no coming back from this.  There would be no pretending this hadn't happened.  How could they.  A daunting and terrifying thought.  But Ignis could never deny Noctis. He hadn't been able to when they were children and he couldn't do so now.    


And so when Noctis leaned up onto his toes to make up for the height difference, Ignis did not stop him.  When those lips brushed his own, Ignis did not stop it.  Far less hurried than their clash at the door.  A  _ proper _ first kiss.  With that little bit of uncertainty at the newness of it, that little bit of hesitation still.  Those sparks that shot and flickered up his spine as the uncertainty and hesitation wore away.  And Ignis could feel it, the way that particular string - the inky black one with countless constellations - took hold and wrapped itself around them, around the other threads that had already bonded them and ingrained itself into each and every one as their kiss deepened.   


No, there would be no coming back from this.  And as Noctis moaned into his mouth, a tiny little sound that did more for Ignis than any fumbled encounter that had come before - Ignis realized he wasn't sure if he would ever  _ want _ to come back from this….

"Oh no fair dude!" the yell from the living room pulled Ignis from his thoughts and he glanced over his cup of coffee to where Noctis and Prompto stood in the living room.  Controllers in hand for some silly game that had them swinging them at the tv in various ungraceful movements far beneath a prince and one of his guards.  But Ignis knew they weren't that here - a prince and one his guards.  Rather just Noct and Prom and it never failed to warm Ignis' heart that Prompto could give this to Noctis.  Space to just  _ be. _

Gladio chucked from beside him where they leaned back on the kitchen counter.  And Ignis lifted his eyes to the shield to see the other man's gaze on other two in the living room.  Ignis studied the softness in Gladio's expression as he watched his omega, the affection clear in those amber eyes.   


Strings and threads.   


Ignis could see his own that tied him to Noctis.  That part was easy.  But Ignis was exceptionally good at being what he was, at being an omega.  And so he could see the others - faint but he could make them out.  The ones that he knew would be vivid to the blond omega demanding a rematch with a bright grin.  The ones that stretched between Prompto and Gladio - shades of yellow and violet blue, amber and green.   


And then that one less defined one.  That one that maybe neither of them had been able to acknowledge even to themselves.  Faint but  _ there _ .   


A braided cord of silver and gold, delicate but glowing all the same.  Just waiting for the moment to take hold, waiting for the moment to seep into all the other strings and threads.   


"What?" Gladio asked, pulling Ignis from the thought.   


Ignis adjusted his glasses with his free hand, only realizing then that he had been staring at Gladio for too long.  "Nothing," he said.  "Just thinking."

Gladio smirked.  "It never shuts off for you does it," he teased.

"No, I'm afraid it does not," Ignis agreed.  There was thread there too.  Between him and the alpha at his side.  A secondary bond.  Not through bite and blood but by sheer time and closeness.  Similar to the one that connected Noctis to Prompto.   


The ties that binded them all to each other.   


"You wanna share with the class?" Gladio asked and took a drink of his own coffee as he kept his gaze on the other two in the living room, now in the throws of a new round of their game.

Ignis hummed.  It would be imprudent to bring it up.  The thread was there.  There was nothing that could be done to stop what had already started.  He knew that.  After all he had never been able to stop his own.  And maybe - well maybe neither of them would even notice it.  Or give it the attention needed to grow.  Though Ignis somehow doubted that as he chanced another glance at Gladio and that soft, warm, expression on his face as he watched Prompto. 

Ignis shook his head.  "Nothing of importance," he answered and set his mug down.  "Shall we see what all the fuss is about?" he segued.

Gladio grinned.  "Oh is that a challenge, Iggy?" he asked as he set his own mug down.

Ignis smiled.  "I suppose that yes, it is… you up for it?"

Another grin.  "Damn right I am," Gladio said with a smirk.   
  
The pair moved into the living room and Ignis watched as Prompto turned to his alpha - as that bright grin that he had come to associate with the blond over the years got just that much brighter.  And in that moment Ignis knew.    


It would be noticed.  One day.     
  
But today would not be that day.  


End file.
